| MotoGP: Stoner-Capirossi, Ducati Aus-Italian finish in Australia |
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| Monday, 15 October 2007 | |
 Australia's World MotoGP champion Casey Stoner today cruised to victory in the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island, with his Ducati team-mate Loris Capirossi completing the Aus-Italia double.
Stoner claimed his ninth victory of a dominant season after clinching the world title in Japan last month. He breezed across the line after a flawless ride, 6.763 seconds ahead of his Ducati teammate Loris Capirossi. Five-times world champion Valentino Rossi on a Yamaha was third, a further three seconds back. Stoner becomes the first Australian to win his home race since Mick Doohan in 1998. Stoner had started from third spot on the grid behind the Honda of Dani Pedrosa and Rossi. But by the second corner the 21-year-old had eclipsed the pair to take the lead and was never headed. He was pushed early in the race by the Honda of 2006 world champion Nicky Hayden before the American's bike expired with mechanical problems on lap 12. Rossi and Pedrosa then duelled for second place before Capirossi overtook the pair. Of the other two Australians, Chris Vermeulen on a Suzuki was eighth and Anthony West's Kawasaki was 12th. Earlier Spain's Jorge Lorenzo moved closer to his second world 250cc title after snaring the Australian round. Lorenzo, who also won here last year, romped home by 19.6 seconds from compatriot Alvaro Bautista. Italian Andrea Dovizioso was third but slipped to 45 points behind Lorenzo in the standings with two rounds, Malaysia and Valencia, remaining. And in the 125cc championship Hungarian Gabor Talmacsi saw his lead in the series slashed to one point. Czech rider Lukas Pesek clinched the race win when he crossed the line ahead of Spain's Joan Olive. Hector Faubel was third and the Spaniard remains in second place in the series but is now just a point adrift of Talmacsi.
In a frantic scramble with a string of riders shuffling for position midway through the GP, Talmacsi briefly took the lead on lap six but four laps later he faded and eventually finished in eighth place. AAP |
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